Fools
by SAVE THE NARGLES
Summary: "We are both fools. Did you know that?" He asked her. "I did know that, punk. And...and I sorta like being one."


**Chris and Clarisse one-shot for Character weeks. I missed the first week, but I want to do oe-shots for the rest of the weeks leading up to Mark of Athena. I also got The Demigod Diaries yesterday, and it was AWESOME! But here is the list of all the couple and their weeks.**

**August 6 - August 13: Grover and Juniper.**

**August 13 - August 20: Clarisse and Chris.**

**August 20 - August 27: Silena and Charles.**

**September 3 - September 10: Thalia and Luke.**

**September 10 - September 17: Hazel and Frank.**

**September 17 - September 24: Piper and Jason / Reyna and Jason (optional)**

**September 24 - October 1: Percy and Annabeth.**

**Well, I hope you like my one-shot, and REVIEW. Seriously I am like addicted to them...**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**

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Chris was a fool.

A fool for joining the Titans. A fool for going into the Labyrinth. A fool for letting go of his mind. And a fool for hating what he had, when he knew he was lucky. He had friends, he had a home, and he thew it away, like an old candy wrapper. Now back in his grasp, he knew he had to keep it.

His bitterness was still there, but now for the Titan army. Luke said he would be famous. He would have the glory of being recognized. The glory of living in the Sixth Age, The New Golden age. That the Olympians would be crushed, Mt. Olympus in ruins. Now, he wanted Mt. Othrys in ruins. He was already grateful that the Labyrinth was destroyed, and the old geezer who created that monstrosity dead. But he was bitter because of all the demigods that were in the army. Hundreds of them, ones that were not collected by satyrs, ones that were not even known about. Some of them were older, almost twenty who should have lives in the mortal world by now, while he had seen some that were nine or ten, who were supposed to be ignorant about the gods. They were like him, bitter. But there were twisted by a devious immortal, and being killed for a cruel cause.

Chris was in the forest, running, away from the people he betrayed. His mind was blur, he did not want anyone to be nice to him, he did not want Mr. D and Chiron to explain everything. He did not want to be confronted by the campers. This was the first time in months that his mind had been clear, but he did not want it stuffed back in with tons of useless information. That could wait, at least a little while.

He felt twigs scratch his bare skin, and his feet step on rocks and stones. He reached a clearing, by the creek. He knelt down and placed his scratched hands under the clear running water. He was about to get up, but then he felt something fly over his head, a spark in his hair, and a thud. He got up and turned around. There was a spear stuck to the tree.

"What are you doing here?" He heard a voice say, and he heard the sound of sloshing water. He turned his attention to the speaker.

Clarisse was standing in the middle of the creek. She was wearing shorts, and an orange tank top, her hair pulled back in a blue bandana. She looked sweaty, and her palms were red and had blisters and splinters. Her eyes, brown, were rimmed with tiredness, and sadness, but also with determination.

"I said, what are you doing here, punk?" She asked more sternly, as she crossed the creek, to the tree where her spear was, ands grasped the part where it was covered in peeling black tape, revealing rough wood underneath. That would explain the blisters.

"Um... I went for a walk...and I stumbled here...and you almost gutted me with your spear..." He muttered under his breath. Gods, he sounded like an idiot.

"Fine. Let's walk." She said. She grabbed her spear and strapped it to her back. Chris watched her as she walked down to the brook, her lean body showing off natural muchles, her hair falling out of her bandana in curls...

"You got legs, punk? Cause I'm not waiting for you! My shoes are on the other side!" She yelled back as she got into the water. He snapped out of his moment of dumbfoundedness, and took off his sandals, and ran after her.

He caught up with her, when she was about halfway across. She stared at him as he sloshed though the water with her.

"You owe me big, punk. You owe me big." Clarisse told him.

"Why?"

"You don't remember, do you?"

He went back into his memories, searching for one with Clarisse, but found none, mostly blurred images of the things he went though in the Labyrinth.

"You're right, I don't remember. But hit me with it. I'm ready." He said with confidence, but it was missing something. "Punk."

Clarisse frowned, but she looked more sad now. More unstable.

"I found you in Phoenix. Wandering around the 100 degree desert in armor, babbling about string, on my morning run, when I was visiting my mom." She started, and he could hear her breathing, as if she had run in the desert just then.

Was she the one that found me, and took me back to camp?

"Was I that desperate?" He blurted out.

"Yes." She simply stated. She never 'simply stated' anything. But Clarisse continued.

"You stayed at my house, because if the mortals knew what state you were in, you would probably be in an asylum by now. Chiron came to talk to you, but all we could figure out from what you were saying is that the Labyrinth was being explored by Luke's army. And that they were looking for Ariadne's string."

"He was looking for the string, to find an entrance of the Labyrinth at Camp Half-Blood. But I did not believe him." He mumbled."That was why I was sent in."

"Shut up, punk."

"Ok."

They reached the other side of the creek and put their shoes back on. Clarisse found a small path that was leading away from the creek, deeper into the forest. Chris followed her quietly. He had to be quiet, so he could hear the rest of the story.

"After the talk, you were sent back to Camp Half-Blood. I went on my own quest last winter to find out more."

"Wait, you WENT INSIDE the Labyrinth!"

"Yeah, but I barely made it out alive. Too many traps. And I did not find the punks that sent you in there. I also tried to destroy the entrance in Phoenix, but it just went to a different place. But eventually I returned to camp. I worked with Annabeth to find out more about the Labyrinth, and the creator, Daedalus."

"Wait, Annabeth? I thought you guys hated each other."

"We do hate each other, punk, but Annabeth knew a lot about the Labyrinth. A smidge of her knowledge about the Labyrinth is worth a lot, she knows ten times as more about the Labyrinth than the rest of the Athena geeks. And she was willing to help me, so I had her on my side too. She went on a quest earlier this summer, found out that Zeus's fist was a Labyrinth entrance, and that the new swordsmaster Quintus was Daedalus. Then there was the Battle of the Labyrinth, we won of course, Kronos has a new body, blah blah blah."

"What happened to me?" Chris asked.

Clarisse stopped walking. Chris smashed into her, making both of them tumble to the ground,him on top of her. their eyes caught each others, and he noticed that the were the perfect shade of chocolate-brown.

Snap out of it, Chris, snap out of it.

He pushed himself off of her, and held out his hand for her. She glanced at his hand, as if it had dog poop on it, but she grasped onto it and pulled herself up. He wanted to let go, but he could not. There was something different.

"You were kept in the basement, away from the other campers." She said in a voice just above a whisper. She was still holding his hand. "I took care of you, but you only got worse. You were put in the infirmary, and I could no longer take care of you. I was expected to continue with my life, train, give swirlies to the new campers, and let you stay there, until Dionysus came back to cure you. That's when I realized the truth."

Chris looked up. He saw that they were by Zeus's fist. There were still ditches, and places that looked burnt. The trees around had marred bark and burnt branches. He saw how much damage that the battle did. Clarisse let go of his hand and turned towards him, her face looking older than Chirons, her confidence draining before his eyes. "You broke me." She uttered. Her voice quavered, with sadness and anger. A tear slid down her cheek. The words seemed to echo, and Chris felt as if his insides were being turned into frost. And all he could do is stand there and watch her fall.

And she ran. And all he could do is stand there. Until she was out of sight could he move. And realize that he just made the biggest mistake of his life. His biggest mistake as a fool.

"CLARISSE!" Chris hollered, his voice desperate. "CLARISSE!" He ran in the direction that she went in, searching for her everywhere, untill he saw her crouching down behind a tree.

"Clarisse..." He said weakly, as he placed his hand on her shoulder, in t way. She grasped his hand and twisted his fingers sharply to the left. She ran back a couple of feet.

"You made me weak. You made me cling onto you. You snapped me in two, just like Prissy did with my spear. You stabbed me, letting all my guts and glory out, for people to see that how I am weak. You made me not a worthy offspring of my father." Her voice grew louder, with every word she stepped closer, and closer to him. Until she was six inches away.

"I was consitered a fool when I believed that you would get better. Did you know that? I was the only one who believed you would get better."

"I owe you." Chris remembered. "I owe you for all you did for me. And how much pain I caused you."

"You do, punk." She answered in a confused daze.

Chris must of not been thinking when cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her. He must of not been in reality when she kissed back, covering his hands with hers. Only did he realize it was real when they broke apart.

"We are both fools. Did you know that?" He asked her.

"I did know that, punk. And...and I sorta like being one."

"Me too."

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**YAY! Hoped you liked it, and please review down below. BYE!**

**-SAVE THE NARGLES**


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